The solution from Orb Data allowed us to automate our agent deployment and configuration to meet our aggressive upgrade schedule.
The reporting is excellent, allowing us to see the deployment status at a glance.
This tool enabled us to deploy in a fraction of the time it would otherwise have taken, releasing valuable resources to focus on exploiting ITM to deliver
enhanced business value. Mark Whitehead – Enterprise Management Systems Leader, Star

WHAT WE DID

Application and Infrastructure Monitoring /

INDUSTRY

Information Technology Services

CLIENT

Star

Challenge

Star delivers Information Technology Services to Business Customers. This includes availability and performance monitoring and SLA reporting across an enterprise of multi-platform servers distributed throughout the
UK.

Star made the strategic decision to upgrade the IBM Tivoli Monitoring (ITM) software that provides the core availability service. ITM version 6.x software is based on an entirely different technology to the previous ITM version 5.x. Therefore the upgrade requires new infrastructure server builds and new agent code to be deployed and configured.

Star required a solution to prepare and control the rapid deployment of agent code to a variety of server platforms. The solution had to allow for complex pre-requisite checking, firewall negotiation, and provide a mechanism of automated and concurrent deployment.

The migration had to be achieved in aggressive timescales in order to deliver the infrastructure enhancements to support Star’s key business
offerings.

Solution

Star implemented Orb Data’s ITM 6 Productivity Pack in combination with the Odyssey software solution in order to meet the rapid deployment and ongoing maintenance challenges.

The ITM 6 Productivity Pack enabled the creation of bespoke agent installation packages. These packages were optimised to minimise network bandwidth requirements. They also included Star’s customised configuration information to ensure each agent was installed, connected and providing monitoring data within minutes of deployment.

Odyssey was used to provide a platform from which to prepare, manage, control and audit the deployment process. The multi-step wizards wereused to conduct pre-requisite checking, such as checking disk space, totransmit the agent packages concurrently, and to launch the remoteinstallation.

Benefits

Optimised Agent Installation Packages

Automated Firewall and Authorisation handling

Remote pre-requisite checking and install preparation

Controlled, concurrent remote installation

Future

Odyssey will continue to be used to health-check and manage the agentenvironment. The ITM 6 Productivity Pack can be used to perform ongoingagent configuration and future agent installations and upgrades.

About Star

Star offers practical, internet-driven communications solutions to small tomedium-sized businesses enabling them to use technology effectively andultimately allowing them to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.